Topic: Chrysler Auto Workers Busted

[Jeffy]

Chrysler Auto Workers Busted
Jefferson North Plant in Detroit

Updated: Thursday, 23 Sep 2010, 11:02 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 23 Sep 2010, 7:13 AM EDT

myFOXDetroit.com Staff - We're all rooting for the auto industry to come back stronger than ever. It affects every one of us here in metro Detroit and across the country because it's so important to our economy.

Fox 2's Rob Wolchek got a tip about what some guys are doing at Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit. This is the same plant that President Barack Obama visited back in July and talked about the significance of manufacturing in America.

The same place where the President remarked on the tax-payer generated government loan saying "I believed that if each of us were willing to work and sacrifice in the short term -- workers, management, creditors, shareholders, retirees, communities -- it could mark a new beginning for a great American industry. And if we could summon that sense of teamwork and common purpose, we could once again see the best cars in the world designed, engineered, forged, and built right here in Detroit, right here in the Midwest, right here in the United States of America."

Watch the video in the player to view what has the UAW and management at Chrysler so upset.  Get the complete report from Rob Wolcheck and Huel Perkin's take on the matter. Add your comments in the module below.

Response from Chrysler; transcript from video interview with Scott Garberding, Senior Vice President - Manufacturing :

I'm very, very disturbed about what I just saw in the video and I want to make it clear that we at Chrysler take it very seriously. For us this behavior is totally unacceptable and will be dealt with swiftly. In fact, we've already identified a few of the people involved in this incident. Each of them has been suspended indefinitely, without pay, pending further investigation. We'll continue to pursue this in fact, until we're done.

What's difficult about this is these few people, who exhibited bad behavior, have painted a bad picture what's an outstanding assembly plant, filled with outstanding committed Chrysler employees at Jefferson North. I want to make it clear that we're proud of our plant, we're very proud of the people at Jefferson North.

Lastly I want to say that when we build a vehicle we go to a lot of detail to make sure that even a few people in a situation like this, in fact cannot effect the quality of the vehicle. We have detail systems in place to make sure that every operation is completed and we do multiple-redundants to ensure quality of the vehicles we make.

Response from the UAW:

The UAW strongly opposes the use of controlled substances or alcohol use on the job. This type of behavior jeopardizes the health and safety of all employees. We also recognize that, unfortunately, these behaviors exist in our society.

The UAW and the Chrysler Corporation work together to keep our workplaces drug and alcohol free, and to encourage employees with substance abuse problems to get the treatment they need. The employees involved in this situation do not represent the vast majority of workers at Chrysler who do a great job making high quality vehicles in some of the most productive manufacturing facilities in the United States.

Response to Query: Update on FOX 2¿s Jefferson North Expose
From the FOX 2 story on Chrysler Group¿s Jefferson North Assembly Plant, the company was able to identify all 15 employees captured on video. Within 36 hours of learning about this matter, each one of the employees was suspended indefinitely without pay. While the evidence seems conclusive, the company needs to act in accordance with co

[Jeffy]

Update:

A statement from Chrysler...

Chrysler Group has completed its investigation of the Jefferson North employees recently suspended for inappropriate conduct during their lunch period. It has been determined that 13 employees engaged in behavior that violated the Company's Standards of Conduct and these 13 employees were discharged today. Two remaining employees will receive a one month disciplinary layoff without pay.

As is evidenced by the swift action taken in this matter, it should be clear that Chrysler Group will not tolerate such behavior and will continue to evaluate its protocols to ensure that something like this does not happen again.

Our customers can be assured that the Jefferson North Assembly Plant has implemented a comprehensive quality system for all of the vehicles it builds. This system has redundant controls that do not allow a single person's error to result in a quality problem flowing to the customer. In fact, early warranty results indicate that the quality performance from the launch of the new Grand Cherokee may be the best launch in the history of Chrysler for vehicle reliability.

It is unfortunate that the actions of a few people have called into question the reputation of more than 51,000 very proud, hard-working Chrysler Group employees, grateful that the American and Canadian taxpayers gave us a second chance. We take that responsibility very seriously and will work to restore the public's faith.

[b.hog]

What did they do?

[Jeffy]

What did they do?

"drinking beer and, in some cases, smoking what appeared to be hand-rolled cigarettes" while on lunch break.

[b.hog]

oh,partaking in the ole lunch bake .Probably not the smartest guys there that day.         

[Jesse-James]

.....ten days all on camera.